


By Any Other Name (Derek Might Be Less Confused)

by amusewithaview



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Family, My OCs are always based off characters from other fandoms, Pre-Canon, Soulmate's Name Written on Your Hand Trope, Soulmates, Twins, Unpronounceable Names, because I am lazy, implied future ships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-18
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-10 05:52:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amusewithaview/pseuds/amusewithaview
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>In a world where your soulmate's first name appears on your wrist at some point during puberty...</i> </p><p>Derek stared at the mangled jumble of letters in miniscule print, barely an inch across for all that it was a whopping thirteen letters long.  <i>At least it's written in English,</i> he thought, resigned, because <i>of course</i> it wouldn't be as easy for him as it was for Laura, with her WASP-named soulmate, <i>of course</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Inky Blues

**Author's Note:**

> This was spawned by my reading Yet Another Soulmate's Name Written On Your Hand fic. While reading it, I thought, "We all know that Stiles' first name is really, _really_ weird. How would that affect Derek?"
> 
> In this universe "Genim" is Stiles' middle name, his first name is... ah, but that would be telling, wouldn't it?

It would be a complete lie to say that Derek didn't notice the tell-tale darkening on his wrist _immediately_.

Most kids developed some time around the age of twelve, a few coming in earlier and some later. The oldest on record was a girl who hadn't been marked until she was nineteen, the youngest a boy of six. Derek had been waiting impatiently, staring at his wrist every morning and every night, since Laura had woken up one morning with the name _Jackson_ written out on her skin in cramped, slanted, cursive lettering.

It wasn't fair, she was his _twin_. It should have happened for them at the same time!

But it didn't, and he was stuck – waiting.

“It'll happen,” his mother had assured him, kissing his forehead.

“ _When?_ ”

She'd shrugged, “When it's time.”

Laura was decidedly less sympathetic, she'd been rather broody since she'd learned her soulmate's name: taking long walks alone in the woods and reading a lot of soulmate themed poetry. She smelled upset almost all the time, now, and Derek didn't understand it – at least she _knew_.

“But that's just it!” she yelled at him when he finally complained to her, “I _don't_ know! I know his name, and I know what his handwriting looks like, but I don't know _anything else_. And it's not guaranteed, Derek, it's not a _sure thing_ , the world's full of stories about people who never met their soulmates, or found them and then lost them, or...” She sighed, seeing his shocked expression. “Here,” she tossed him a battered copy of Edgar Allen Poe's completed works, “read about his soulmate, Annabelle, and then stop feeling sorry for yourself. You don't have to worry, yet.”

He went away and read the poem and really _thought_ about what Laura said. When he was done, he found her and wrapped himself around her, even though she was a little taller than him (their folks laughed when he grumbled about this, saying he'd probably hit his growth spurt over the summer), and just held on. She settled back against him, cradling her arm on her lap and running her index finger over the letters again and again and again.

“Sorry, Derek,” she said, turning her head to bury it against his neck.

“Me too,” he replied, nuzzling her skin in return, smelling _wolf_ and _sister_ and _pack_.

“It's just hard,” she whispered, staring down at her arm again, “I know he's out there and I just... I want to find him.”

He nodded against her shoulder, “I know.”

Laura grabbed for his arm (the left, it was always the left), and traced her fingers over the bare veins. “Hmmm,” she adopted a mischievous expression, “I'm sensing... an old lady. With a lot of cats. One who hates red meat and _loves_ carrots.”

Derek jerked his arm away, mock-growling, and all was right again.

Two weeks later he woke with a faint shading of blue smudging his skin.

He stared at the darkening patch, not touching it, part of him afraid that it was just a bruise, the rest sure, absolutely _certain_ that this was it. He waited till the absolute last minute to get up for his shower, hoping that he'd be able to see the name of his soulmate before he had to go to school. No such luck: the dark spot got bigger and a little more defined, but stayed completely illegible.

Laura noticed his silence at the breakfast table, so did his mother and cousins - Cameron and Abby were still too young to really know what was going on, but they caught his subdued mood all the same. They let him be, understanding what he was going through and leaving him to his silent, near continuous, inspection.

“Do you want to stay home from school today?” his mom offered.

He shook his head, eyes never leaving his wrist, “No. I'll be too edgy if I stay home.”

She smiled, “Then there's something that your father and I need to give you.” She headed out of the room, and Derek and Laura followed her with their ears as she made her way to the master bedroom, waking their father and rooting around for something in the closet. They both knew what she was grabbing and, judging by the sounds of movement that were starting to fill the rest of the house, the aunties and uncles did, too.

A whole parade ended up tramping down the stairs and hovering in the kitchen and hallway. Dad looked sleepy, it had been mom's day to send them off, everyone else that took turns with the kids was having a sleep-in day, but this nobody wanted to miss this. Uncle Jeff and uncle Peter were both grinning at him, arms wrapped around their soulmates – aunts Annie and Sarah both had tears in their eyes, though Annie was still trying to talk through hers and Sarah was stoically ignoring them.

Aunt Peggy's face was blank, but she was still there for him, though her right hand had gone white-knuckled wrapped around her left wrist. Cam slipped from the table and ran to his mother, burying his face against her knees until she relaxed and slid to the floor to wrap her arms around him and offer Derek a small, but sincere, smile.

Mom and dad waited till everyone was accounted for, then stepped up to either side of him at the table.

“This is an important day, and we want to honor that. Your mate's name may not be clear yet, but it's important that you protect him or her from scrutiny. So,” she offered the small wooden box she held, and Derek noticed that her eyes were over bright when he reached for it, “ah, here.”

The box was old, and about as big as a shoebox. The latch was large, probably made from iron, and when he lifted the lid it revealed a sumptuous blue-velvet interior cradling several cuffs made from a combination of silver and black leather. Each one was slightly different, though they all shared a few common factors: the family symbol was embossed on some, the Hale name on others. Derek knew without looking that if the symbol was on the outside, the name would be on the inside and vice versa.

He stared at them, one hand curled protectively around the box, the other hovering over the cuffs in indecision.

“Just pick the one that _feels_ right,” Laura whispered, her own hands clutching her day-to-day bracelet. Most of the family left them off at home, where they knew themselves to be safe, but they all wore them in public – both as a nod to propriety and to keep their mates, wherever they might be, safe.

Derek shut his eyes and let his hand wander over the thick bands, finally stopping on one that felt just that little bit _better_ than the others. When he opened his eyes he saw a braided black band with a silver medallion in the center displaying an infinity knot.

Laura popped her head over his shoulder: “Good choice,” she said approvingly.

The rest of the family came forward one at a time and offered hugs or kisses and each brushed their fingers over the cuff, leaving behind their scent and the promise of protection for his future mate. Aunt Peggy lingered the longest, holding Cam with one arm while her other hand rested on Derek's cuff.

“With everything you have,” she said at last, eyes boring into Derek's, “ _everything_.”

He nodded solemnly and, as soon as she walked away, fastened the cuff around his wrist.

With the acknowledgement and the ceremony out of the way, the rest of the pack would be waiting with him to find out the name. Derek knew school would be torturous for him, but at least it might offer some sort of distraction. He hoped his twin would help with that, but...

“Is it clear yet?” she whispered in each class, practically squirming with eagerness.

“I don't know,” he told her each time, “I'm not looking till after school!”

“But whyyyyyy?” she whined in fourth period, finally fed up.

Derek eyed her meaningfully, hand wrapped tight around his bracelet, “Protection.”

She looked as if she was about to object, then glanced down at her own wrist and nodded. For the rest of the day she watched him and everyone he interacted with like a hawk. Derek thought she was overreacting, the few classmates who noticed his new adornment were polite enough to offer nothing but a simple acknowledgement. The obnoxious ones were usually a little slower on the uptake, or leery of taking on the Hale twins.

“C'mon,” Laura dragged him out to their bikes as soon as school was out, “I want to _see_ , please?”

He followed, smiling at her puppyish enthusiasm. They sped through the forest as fast as their bikes would carry them until they were deep into Hale property. Derek practically jumped off his bike, hand scrambling at his bracelet – trying not to tear at it, but he wanted to _know_ \- until it was finally off and he could see the name of his soulmate in dark blue, written on his arm.

“So?” Laura was almost bouncing, “What does it say?”

Derek stared at the mangled jumble of letters in miniscule print, barely an inch across for all that it was a whopping thirteen letters long. _At least it's written in English,_ he thought, resigned, because _of course_ it wouldn't be as easy for him as it was for Laura, with her WASP-named soulmate, _of course_.

Laura yanked his arm over to look at it, “...what the hell does that even _mean?_ ”

Derek sighed, “I have no idea.”


	2. The Laura and Derek Show (Adolescent Wolf)

Nobody in the family can make heads or tails of the name on Derek's wrist, not even his aunt Annie.

“Well, it could be from one of the sub-saharan African dialects, or even Hindi! There're just so many languages out there, Derek, it's hard to tell...” she wilted, blue eyes dimming at her own failure. “But it's in English! So he's a native speaker! At least there's that.”

“Can you tell if it's a boy's name or a girl's?”

“Sorry, sweetheart, but no,” she looked on the verge of tears.

“It's okay, ladyface,” uncle Jeff said, walking up and enfolding her in a tight hug, “you can't know everything.”

“Thanks for trying, Annie,” Derek said, walking over to give her a brief hug of his own. He left quickly after that: Annie had only been a part of the family for a few years and still had trouble controlling her wolf side when she was emotional, having come to it so late in life. Uncle Jeff would be able to calm her down in the ways that only a mate could, and she was still a little uncomfortable with some of the comfort-touch that the pack offered so easily.

He headed down into the kitchen, the unofficial hub of the house, where Laura was working on her homework. She was sitting with her head bent close to Uncle Peter's, probably working on math. Both of them looked up at his entrance, two pairs of warm blue eyes staring at him from above two soft smiles.

Peter scooted his chair down a little so that Derek could slip in between him and Laura and spread out his own homework. “I was just going over today's assignment with your sister, I'll go ahead and assume that you were also too jittery to pay much attention?”

Derek stroked his fingers lightly over the name on his wrist, “Yeah.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Peter said, nodding, “I was much the same when I was your age.”

“At least you knew Sarah was a _girl_ ,” Derek griped.

Peter fixed him with a steady look, “There are many different difficulties inherent in looking for one's mate. Your sister, father, and many others – including myself – have had to work with the fact that our soulmates have very common names. We have had to trust to our senses, and in some cases our mates' distinctive handwriting, to find them. Your mate's unique name may come to be a blessing, Derek. Your _mate_ is a blessing, don't resent him or her for something completely out of their control.”

“Resent your future in-laws,” Laura muttered.

Peter's lips twitched, “Perhaps, but maybe keep that to yourself until after the third or fourth date.”

Later that night Derek lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, when he heard Laura slip into the room. She slid onto the bed beside him, and both stared up at the constellations of glow-in-the-dark stars that decorated the ceiling.

“Does it bother you,” she asked conversationally, “that your mate might be a guy?”

“No...” Derek said after a little consideration. “I just don't like not _knowing_ ,” he confessed.

“Welcome to the club,” Laura sighed.

“It kind of sucks.”

“Five more years till we can join the registries. We'll find them then.”

“Unless our mates are younger than we are,” Derek couldn't help but point out.

Laura sat up and whacked him in the face with a pillow all in one motion, “Bite your tongue!”

He rolled his eyes at her, “It could happen. Probably _will_ happen, just like with Jeff and Annie.”

“Maybe we'll be like mom and dad,” she returned.

“It took _ten years_ for Sarah to find Peter.”

Laura slumped back down, “You're right.”

He hated to smell her sadness and regretted his gloomy words: “Hey,” he jostled her shoulder, flashing a teasing smile at her, “bet I'll find mine before you find yours. Find _and_ woo _and_ mate.”

She gave him a haughty look, “You _wish_. Care to make it interesting?”

“Stakes?”

“First to mate, with full knowledge of our family, has to... provide free babysitting for a year!”

“What if the loser has cubs first?”

She shrugged, “Cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“...what if we don't live in the same house anymore?”

Laura's tone was dripping with disdain, “Please. We're going to live together until we die, Derek.”

“And our mates will be best friends?”

“Absolutely.”

Of course, neither of them could really _know_ , but Derek's hand found Laura's, twining their fingers together in the dark, and both of them could take comfort in the fact that even if they didn't have their mates yet, they had _this:_ pack, family, _twin_ , through thick and thin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stiles will enter in the next chapter. Considering doing a sequel, or maybe just a continuation of this, with chapters from his POV. And, of course, I will have to write the epic, failboaty romance of Laura and Jackson. Because their love, it is so fraught with Jackson's Issues and Laura's Awesome.


End file.
